Title: A Chaotic Mess of Pastels
Author: Me!
Rating: I'm not too sure about the new rating system but I would say this is about…PG-13.
Feedback: I'd love me some it!
Summary: Troy Bolton finally has life all figured out as his junior year wanes. However, his perfect world is in jeopardy as he discovers his past.
Disclaimer: I own not High School Musical or the songs or Zac…but if I did…heheheh. Wow! I don't own much. Wait! I do own Adele Carson!
I did a little revamping…namely the changing of the musical Adele is in. Secondly, thank you everyone who reviewed!
Chapter Five
The cold air whipped through the visitors' hair, momentarily blinding them. The city beneath them was obscured with hair protecting them from the biting cold breeze. It was to be expected seeing as how it was early spring, mid-morning, atop the Empire State Building. Troy had long since succumbed to the purchasing of cheesy souvenirs. As Troy and Gabriella posed with the skyscrapers kissing the sky as the backdrop, Troy readjusted his Big Apple hat. Oh yes, an apple hat. Ryan had turned down the hat when the group passed a vendor cart. What a shocker! Ryan Evans passing up a hat purchase.
Ah, so was life.
He draped his arm around Gabriella's shoulders for protection from the wind and chill.
"Say 'Big Apple'." Said Ryan as he prepared the digital camera for photo-taking.
Gabriella chuckled. "Big Apple."
"My hat!" Troy pointed to his monstrosity of hat. A hollow click of the shutter was proof of the capturing of the moment in time.
"Why didn't you get that hat, Ry?" Sharpay asked her younger twin once she was through looking through the viewfinders that one could find on the observation floor of the building. Troy was surprised at how much he could bear Sharpay. She wasn't always Ms. Icy Blonde Princess twenty-four-seven. Thankfully.
Ryan scoffed.
"What? Don't like the new fashion statement I've created?" Troy joked.
"I do. It suits you well. But on me…"
The small group of friends laughed. Kelsi came over to them, wrapping her sweater tighter around her petite frame. "Come on guys. We have to load up. We're going to the workshop next."
Slowly, Sharpay, Ryan, Gabi, and Troy pulled themselves away from the breathtaking cityscape and followed their classmates off the top level. They went down to the street where their sightseeing bus was parked.
Mrs. Darbus (with all her scarves, beads, and buggy glasses) watched tight-lipped as she counting off the students boarding. "Make it snappy. Our next stop on our adventure through the arts will not wait forever."
Finally, every young adult was seated. Troy sat down in the aisle seat as Gabriella snuggled into the seat next to him. He knew how much she loved to gaze out of the window. He had always known of his girlfriend's curiosity and appreciation for her surroundings. He smoothed away a stray curl from her captivating face.
Her luscious browns peeked at him from the corner of her eye. "Thank you," Her honeyed voice was an elixir of life to him. Troy intertwined his strong, slightly callused, fingers with her delicate digits. He brought their hands to his lips where they touched her knuckles.
"You are very welcome." Troy's voice was low and raspy; never had he felt so strongly for a girl.
Gabriella soft smile faded as she laid her head on his shoulder.
"Oh quit with the mush. Gah!" Sharpay said off-handedly as she passed by.
"Seated now!" Their school sponsor said. Mrs. Darbus waited for the group to get situated before signaling to the driver to go. The ride was relatively long. Mainly because of traffic. Stop and go; stop and go…stop and go. No wonder. Whenever Troy looked out of the window, there were masses of people scuttling across the sidewalk.
After what could have been easily estimated as twenty minutes, the bus screeched to a halt in front of a small theatre named Carter Theatrics. In front of them were four buses identical to the one Troy had ridden in; in behind was one more pulling in. The Big Apple hat was left on board for safekeeping.
"Guess some other schools are here." Kelsi whispered as they filed into the foyer. The theatre wasn't anything major like he anticipated the plays and musicals he would be seeing soon to be performed in. Yet it wasn't so small as the façade would lead one to believe. The entrance hall was a-buzz with other teens lined up to enter the main auditorium. The three double-door entrances were thrown wide open. With a quick peek, Troy saw the stage was dark with the velvet red curtains drawn.
Following the other Drama kids who came along on this field trip, Troy held loosely to Gabriella's hand. The seats were sectioned off into reserved places spaced out between a few rows. He easily spotted where East High was to be. A simple sign that appeared to have been typed and printed out was taped to the side of an aisle seat. It stated which row letters that were Wildcat territory.
However, the reserved section already had someone occupying it. A mop of brown hair could be seen as they approach mid-center seating. Troy had the strangest feeling that he knew that hair…?
"Chad?" asked Troy once he was close enough.
The person turned around, a Cheshire smile on his face. "Hey man."
"What are you doing here?" The two best friends slapped hands.
"My mom's work was sending her out to some seminar and since she was able to get tickets to see 'Phantom of the Opera' – for the twenty-eighth time – she thought it best if I came with. And since my best friend suddenly wanted to broaden his musical limits, she was further convinced that it was my time to become cultured."
Gabriella sat one seat away from Chad. She knew that Troy would want to sit by his friend. She was so thoughtful and giving. "But how did you end up here?"
"About that…I got to meet some of the cast for your workshop during my roaming of the city."
"Your mom allowed to you walk New York by yourself?" Troy said.
"No…about that…"
The lights flickered signaling the start of whatever was to happen. A hush fell over the audience comprised of six different high schools. The stage lights brightened and a woman could be seen center stage, pacing back and forth.
A gasped sounded. Troy couldn't believe his eyes. It was Adele. On that large stage, by herself. This couldn't be right. She couldn't be apart of the workshop…could she?
Well, she was starring in that new musical…
She was muttering incoherently to herself. The growing sounds of footsteps came from the left wing. A young man about her age came out. Her back was to him as he crept up behind her.
"Oh," She gasped in surprise. "When did you get here?" She had a spot on British accent and the look of relief on her pretty face. "Why are you here?" Her character got angry suddenly.
"Calm down." The other person on stage held his hands up in mock defense. "Did you talk to her yet?"
"Yeah…" She moved away from him.
"No you didn't. Liar! Ina, you have to tell her what happened."
Ina, her character Troy rationalized, crossed her arms. "Tell my mother that we got married and that I dropped out of college? Yeah, sure. Go for it."
"Drop that fake accent."
She smiled as she gingerly sat down. "What? You don't like the new sophisticate I became while studying abroad?" Her voice was back to normal…at least the normal Troy was used to hearing.
Some of the audience members had laughed at her abrupt change in voice.
"You couldn't fool anyone with that."
"I fooled some natives though, Carl."
The guy sat down beside her. "You could never fool me, babe." He went in to kiss her when two other females burst in from somewhere and squealed.
"Ina! You're back! Welcome back, Ina!" They yelled as they broke the two up; Adele went raced to the girls while Carl speed off far away from Ina.
"How's the future lawyer doing?" The shorter girl said.
Ade- Ina's smile faded. "Good," she artificially pushed another grin onto her face.
"Tell us how was it,"
"How was the shopping?"
"How were the monuments?"
"How were the boys?"
"How were the libraries?"
"How were the boys?"
The two friends switched back and forth with the questions.
"Great. I loved it all." She laughed.
One girl was positively jumping up and down. "Where are the pictures?"
"What pictures?"
"You didn't take any pictures! How could you go to such a magnificent place without capturing the moments?"
The shorter girl flopped onto the couch (the only piece of furniture on set). "No cute boy pictures."
Another small laugh bubbled from those watching the scene unfold.
"Sorry, no cute blokes to film." Ina switched back over to her British accent flawlessly.
"Then why are you back?"
"I brought back wonderful souvenirs…in the kitchen."
That was all that was needed to rush the girl off-stage.
"Guess I'm forced to follow." Which she did.
Once out of sight, Carl went to Ina. "Is she-"
"That's Jenna for you."
A beat of silence passed between them. "Are you going to tell?"
"And get booted out of the only place we can stay? Being a department window designer isn't the best field of work to get into. Especially when you have no credentials to your name."
A woman came in. She appeared to be a teacher. A young one at that with her blonde hair pulled in a bun and skin still vibrant without the help of make-up. She was dressed in all black with a clipboard. "Cut. Dim lights and spot me." She commanded. The actors behind her froze, lights faded, and a light shone on her.
"I am Shelby Osbourne. Mrs. Osbourne to some of my students you saw today. Some of you may have heard of them. Those you just saw perform are in a musical that's gaining in popularity. 'Waiting to Fall'…have any of you heard of it?"
A few people clapped and Chad started whooping and hollering.
"Ah," she smiled, "glad to hear that. This workshop was created for you six high schools. You are the foundation at which some of our thespians have been able to build their talents upon. And today, as demonstrated, we will be learning about dramatic techniques including improvisation, character development, stage presence and other stage business, and some games that will warm us up as well as get us introduced to one another."
The die-hard Drama Club goers began to clap and whisper excitedly. Troy was mainly stuck on the fact that what he just saw was improvised. He assumed that it was a select scene from the musical. "That was just thought up?" He asked Chad impressed.
"Yeah, man. She's gone through some major changes and development when it comes to this thing. You'd be surprised if you knew how many classes she's taken."
"Really?"
"Hush, Mr. Bolton." Mrs. Darbus hissed from the other end of the row. "Mr. Danforth? What are you doing here?"
"I know the lead." He smirked.
The realization dawned on her. "Ah, right, well – that doesn't mean you can chatter through this. You had better have some way to get to wherever you're staying."
"My mom's here too."
"Good." The Drama teacher gave them one last sour look before leaning back in her seat.
Chad leaned close to Troy. "Yeah, back at the hotel."
"But first an introduction to the writer, composer, and cast of 'Waiting to Fall'." Mrs. Osbourne began to rattle off names. First came the two teens he saw on Good Morning America. This time that boy had his hair tied back in a ponytail. Next came the two girls previously in that improvised scene. Some other people. A tall guy and Carl, whose real name was Carlos Naylor.
"And lastly, Adele Carson."
Troy hands tingled and his leg bounced. It had been a year since he'd seen her. He always dreamed seeing her again would happen differently or not at all. He certainly never dreamed that she would be on stage a good twenty feet from him. Steeling his back straight, Troy waited on baited breath.
She jogged on stage with a bright smile. If it were for what she was now wearing, Troy wouldn't have noticed that the four people who had just performed changed clothes. At first pondering, he would think it was strange but the little taste of the theatre he experienced, Troy guessed that they may have quickly scrubbed off stage make-up and that stuff stains quite easily.
Adele had her hair pulled high in a haphazard bun, jeans, black tennis, and ("No way.") her Wildcats girls JV soccer jersey.
"I dared her to wear it," whispered Chad. A part of him wanted to laugh with his buddy. A part of him wanted to be proud that Adele still didn't turn down dares. A part of him missed those days watching her play, cheering her on. And another part of him wanted to forget about Adele again and think only of Gabriella.
She waved to the crowd, laughing with the energy she had described to him once when she looked out at the crowd – the clapping feeding her excitement. She turned to her cast mates. "Don't be jealous! Don't be jealous." Her voice was sing-song in nature. "Not my fault that you all didn't think about showing your school colors – pride."
The others chuckled with her. She curtsied with a flourish. When she rose, Adele scanned the sea of faces. She waved at Chad who punched the air in silence response. But then, for a split second in time, her chocolate eyes focused on him. Her smile faltered but she recovered with the grace of a promising ingenue. Troy wanted to wave, show support to his friend…if only she had always stayed as such. He swallowed the fear and rose his hand a fraction at a time before he minutely waved.
Shock ghosted her face. At least she wasn't the only one having trouble with this. He took comfort in that since this workshop was two hours long.
A/N: And so the fun begins!
